At the age of 26, I thought I had gone through a solid amount of grown-up experiences. I have lived alone in a foreign country…twice. I work a full-time job and live independently from my parents. I have dealt with tragedy and heartbreak. This year, I even paid my own taxes (okay, there may have been a brief moment of weakness at which point I may or may not have phoned my dad in tears, but I paid them nonetheless).
Au contraire. I may as well be an infant. But I am on my way to full adulthood. What I am referring to, my friends, is the NYC apartment hunt. After a laundry list of unfortunate occurrences at my current apartment, I have entered THE HUNT. I entered said HUNT on Monday. Since then, I’ve lost some sleep and shed some tears. I have come to understand a few things:
-I live in a palace.
-NYC is awesome for 1% of the population.
-Some brokers are nice. Some brokers make me want to take an exfoliating shower. Then shower again.
-One does not become an adult until one has been through THE HUNT.
I can’t wait to post in the near future from my new apartment (the one that I have not yet found). Until then, I will be burning off all kinds of frustration in the kitchen. Lots of frustration, lots of cooking, lots of growing up. Deep breaths. Kale. Carrots. Feta. SCENE.
This made enough for a small serving tonight and a small lunch tomorrow. Together, the portion would be a decent dinner salad for one or a nice accompaniment to a dinner for two.
Ingredients for Salad:
4 large carrots, peeled
1/3 cup of feta cheese
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of dried cranberries
1/2 a large 10 ounce bag of chopped kale
1 teaspoon of honey
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil
Sea salt
Ingredients for Dressing:
1/2 tablespoon of diced shallot
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of honey
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (I used a pomegranate balsamic vinegar)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the tips of all four carrots and slice in half lengthwise to create 8 strips. Set on a roasting pan or cookie sheet lined with foil.
Using your fingers, coat the carrots with a bit of olive oil or coconut oil. Drizzle some honey once coated and use your fingers or a pastry brush to apply evenly to the carrots.
Top with a few pinches of sea salt and roast for 25 minutes or the texture becomes a bit rougher and some of the edges darken. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place kale in a large bowl. Use a touch of oil in your hands to massage the kale for a minute or two. Add in dried cranberries. Using a measuring cup, combine all of the ingredients for your dressing and whisk quickly or stir rapidly with a spoon.
Toss the salad dressing with the kale, then top with roasted carrots and feta and enjoy!
